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How Do You Turn a More Complicated Expression into Words?
Turn the following mathematical expression into words. In other words make up a statement that describes the mathematical expression!
2(a+3b)
Summary
- 'a' and 'b' are variables
- 'a' is equal to the amount of hours that Amit works
- 'b' is equal to the amount of hours that Betty works
- We're taking 2 times something, which is in the parentheses, ( + )
- 2 times something is the same thing as saying "twice"
- We can't forget to write "and" between the two things we were summing together!

Notes
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- 'a' and 'b' are variables
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- Variables can stand for lots of different things, so it's up to us to choose something for them to stand for
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- Since 'a' and 'b' are variables, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'a' and 'b'
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- Since 'a' and 'b' are variables, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'a' and 'b'
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- Since 'a' and 'b' are variables, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'a' and 'b'
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- Since 'a' is a variable, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'a'
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- Since 'a' is a variable, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'a'
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- Since 'b' is a variable, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'b'
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- Since 'b' is a variable, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'b'
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- You can make up your own story for what the variables mean
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- You can make up your own story for what the variables mean
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- 'a' is a variable that you can define to be anything you want
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- 'b' is a variable that you can define to be anything you want
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- By splitting 2(a+3b) up into smaller pieces, it will be easier to figure out what each piece means
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- 'a' and 'b' are variables
- 'a' is equal to the number of Amit's hours
- 'b' is equal to the number of Betty's hours
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- By splitting 2(a+3b) up into smaller pieces, it will be easier to figure out what each piece means
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- By splitting 2(a+3b) up into smaller pieces, it will be easier to figure out what each piece means
- The "2 times" comes from that 2 in front of the parentheses
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- We're taking 2 times something, which is in the parentheses, ( + )
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- We're taking 2 times something, which is in the parentheses, ( + )
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- We're taking 2 times something, which is in the parentheses, ( + )
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- We're taking 2 times something, which is in the parentheses, ( + )
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- We're adding two terms inside the parentheses, hence the plus sign, ( + )
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- We're adding two terms inside the parentheses, hence the plus sign, ( + )
- "the sum of" means that we're adding things together
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- There are often multiple words that can be used in the place of one operation
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- There are often multiple words that can be used in the place of one operation
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- "the sum of" means that we're adding things together
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- "the sum of" means that we're adding things together
- 'a' and 'b' are variables
- 'a' is equal to the number of Amit's hours
- 'b' is equal to the number of Betty's hours
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- 'a' and 'b' are variables
- 'a' is equal to the number of Amit's hours
- 'b' is equal to the number of Betty's hours
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- 'a' is a variable that we defined earlier
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- 'a' is a variable that we defined earlier
- 'a' is equal to the number of Amit's hours
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- 'a' is a variable that we defined earlier
- 'a' is equal to the number of Amit's hours
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- "3b" means 3•b, where 3 is the coefficient
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- "3b" means 3•b, where 3 is the coefficient
- 'b' is a variable that we defined earlier
- 'b' is equal to the number of Betty's hours
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- "3b" means 3•b, where 3 is the coefficient
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- "3b" means 3•b, where 3 is the coefficient
- 'b' is a variable that we defined earlier
- 'b' is equal to the number of Betty's hours
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- 'b' is a variable that we defined earlier
- 'b' is equal to the number of Betty's hours
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- "3b" means 3•b, where 3 is the coefficient
- "3b" translates to "three times Betty's hours"
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- Since we broke 2(a+3b) into manageable pieces, we have to put them all back together again to see if they make sense
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- Since we broke 2(a+3b) into manageable pieces, we have to put them all back together again to see if they make sense
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- Since we broke 2(a+3b) into manageable pieces, we have to put them all back together again to see if they make sense
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- 'a' and 'b' are variables
- 'a' is equal to the number of Amit's hours
- 'b' is equal to the number of Betty's hours
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- This is why we put all the parts back together to see if things make sense!
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- Now the story makes sense!
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- Since 'a' and 'b' are variables, and we're making up the story, we can chose whatever definitions we want for 'a' and 'b'